White House's Pay Freeze Proposal Falls Short, Says House Republican

Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) applauded President Barack Obama’s proposal to enact a two-year pay freeze for federal workers, but said the White House should do more to cut costs.

The soon-to-be chairman of the House Oversight Committee called the president’s proposal “long overdue,” and asked Obama to consider a series of Republican recommendations for reducing the nation’s debt.

Issa said that the GOP’s recently released “Pledge to America” includes several provisions aimed at saving money. Among them are returning federal spending to pre-2008 levels, prematurely ending the bank bailout program known as TARP, and allowing Congress to hold weekly votes on spending cuts.

“The first place we should look to make progress on higher costs, increased debt and a stagnant economy is look inward at how taxpayer dollars are being spent and doing more to ensure that tens of billions of dollars are no longer erroneously paid out,” Issa said.